Americans' Global Warming Beliefs and Attitudes in January 2010

A January 2010 survey by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication reveals a sharp decline in American public concern and belief in global warming since 2008. Belief that global warming is occurring fell to 57%, and those worried about it dropped to 50%. Trust in information sources, including scientists and news media, also declined, while perceptions of scientific disagreement increased.

• Public belief in and concern about global warming in the United States declined significantly between the fall of 2008 and January 2010. Specifically, the proportion of Americans believing global warming is happening fell to 57% (a 14-point drop), those attributing it mostly to human activities fell to 47% (a 10-point drop), and those expressing worry about it fell to 50% (a 13-point drop).
• There was a measurable decrease in public trust toward scientists and media sources of climate information. Trust in mainstream news media dropped by 11 percentage points, television weather reporters by 10 points, and scientists by 8 points. Additionally, 40% of the public believes there is significant disagreement among scientists regarding whether global warming is occurring.
• The decline in public understanding and trust may have been influenced by domestic factors including rising unemployment, political frustration in Washington, the health care debate, and the leak of emails from climate scientists used to allege misconduct.

APA

Yale Program on Climate Change Communication (2010). Americans' Global Warming Beliefs and Attitudes in January 2010. https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/americans-global-warming-beliefs-and-attitudes-in-january-2010/

Chicago

Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. Americans' Global Warming Beliefs and Attitudes in January 2010. 2010. https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/americans-global-warming-beliefs-and-attitudes-in-january-2010/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Yale Program on Climate Change Communication |title=Americans' Global Warming Beliefs and Attitudes in January 2010 |date=4 February 2010 |url=https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/americans-global-warming-beliefs-and-attitudes-in-january-2010/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{yaleprogramonclimatechangecommunication2010americans, author = {{Yale Program on Climate Change Communication}}, title = {{Americans' Global Warming Beliefs and Attitudes in January 2010}}, institution = {Yale Program on Climate Change Communication}, year = {2010}, month = feb, url = {https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/americans-global-warming-beliefs-and-attitudes-in-january-2010/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }